Origins of the Dark Aether
by ShadowcrestTheDarkDragon
Summary: Dark Aether, a very powerful substance only found in purple dragons, it's nature is evil, it can take over them turning them into pure evil. This is what happend to Cynder when she was the Terror of the skies but that was done by the dark master Malefor who was a purple dragon who's will had been taken by this Dark Aether, However she was purified. Can the same be done for Malefor?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys this is my first fanfiction I have ever done on this website, so please be nice to me XD. (JK you can tear me apart if you do not like how I have started this story off since I will improve no other way.) I have been pondering on this story for a few weeks now (2 to be precise) but I did not have the courage to post my story in case it was actually rubbish, but well here it is I hope you enjoy how I have started it, I will try to upload frequently but understand this is my first fanfiction, so if I do not post after a few days it is probably because I am thinking of the next chapter, anyway enough of my rambling Enjoy! Oh, and I am open to suggestions on how to improve it.**

Origins of the Dark Aether

Chapter 1 – The Final Battle

"You cannot Defeat me, I am eternal!" Roared Malefor as he shot a Bright Beam of Amethyst coloured convexity at the Two young dragons.

"That is where you are wrong Malefor!" Spyro retaliated before he proceeds to fire his own beam of similar coloured Convexity at Malefors beam colliding with it head on, Cynder seeing that one beam wouldn't be enough she shot her own beam at Spyro's making it double in size, their beam however still looked inferior to Malefors since they were only young, however the combined efforts of Cynder and Spyro impressively held their own against the Evil, Experienced, older dragon.

Cynder faltered, Spyro noticed this immediately and said encouragingly to her "Just … Hang … On!"

Upon hearing this Cynder replied struggling "I will not give up, after everything he has done to me! Everything he has done to you! I will not give him the pleasure he desires!"

With hearing Cynders voice, Spyro put even more power into his beam and so did Cynder both their wings burning to keep them from falling to their demise. Eventually Malefor (who had already been exhausted from the previous battles) faltered which gave Spyro and Cynders combined beams the advantage it needed to overpower Malefor. As the beam met with Malefors dull yellow chest scales, with a force equivalent to a ragining inferno, he let out a brief scream and fell, dark energy seeping out of his maw and nose.

Spyro saw this as he came to land, as he thought anymore flying, and his wings would fall off and thought to himself "What in the Ancestors was that." But he was quickly snapped from his thoughts as the sound of Cynder gracefully landing besides him brought him back to reality, As his amethyst eyes met with Cynders emerald eyes Spyro found himself lost in them, He blushed as did Cynder (although her blush was harder to see as her scales where black.) , as the world around them began to tear itself asunder.

The sound of the earth cracking all around them quickly brought them out of their trance. Upon snapping out of their trance both Spyro and Cynder looked around, Suddenly Cynder broke the silence and said "Spyro, I'm sorry I am so sorry."

Spyro looked at Cynders Face, her ebony scales shimmering in the light, Spyro felt blood rush to his face again, but snapped back to reality rather quickly and replied sadly "Don't be it's over now."

Cynder replies shocked "so this is it," The only sound that could be heard was the planets crust groaning as it tore apart piece by piece.

Ignitus who had previously died at the Belt of Fire said in the back of Spyro's mind sounding grim "Spyro when a dragon dies, he does not truly leave this world," Spyro closed his eyes listening to his mentor "His spirit lives on, binding itself with nature offering hope for the future." As his voice goes Spyro's eyes snap open, he turns to Cynder his companion and best friend and says

"I Know what I need to do. Just get out of here Cynder." He says this as in his mind he doesn't want Cynder to die because of him, yet a small part of him doesn't want her to go.

Cynder thought to herself for a minute on what it would be like without Spyro by her side and all she sees is sadness, even if he does stop the world from breaking apart it would not be the same, Her face warms up as she thinks of all the Caring things Spyro has done for her in her short life, if it was not for her ebony scales hiding her faint blush any dragon would have noticed it. She decides that the world is not worth living without him and she says "Spyro no, you do not have to do anything let's just go."

Spyro replies suddenly with a slight tinge of anger in his voice "Where Cynder? There'll be nothing left! The world is breaking apart." He continues after a brief pause sounding normal again "But I think I can stop it. I think I'm meant to."

Cynder looks at Spyro dumbfounded and thinks "even in the end Spyro still somehow finds an alternative, He's so caring" Her face heats up again, even with the ebony scales if any dragon looked closely enough, they would see the slight redness that has appeared in her face. Cynder continues and says without even thinking "Then I am with you."

Spyro can't help but blush, he hoped that Cynder didn't notice, unfortunately for him Cynder did notice but chose not to say anything. With that Spyro spreads his wings to their limit and begins to float up, feeling a strange feeling Spyro gives of a Purple aura which spreads to the edges of the planet, Cynder goes close to him and says quietly hoping to not break his concentration, "I love you."

Caught up in the moment, both young dragons, Spyro and Cynder fail to notice that another purple dragon whom they thought they had defeated became conscious, however with a distinct change, his previous feral yellow eyes had changed into, a softer, more caring look. Malefor looks at Spyro and says with a smile quiet enough so he doesn't disturb them "That's my boy." With that moment everything went white and the previous purple aura around the planet begins to come in closer pulling the floating bits of Earth back together, ultimately undoing the damage the dark master had previously brought upon the world with his destroyer, both gone forever.


	2. Chapter 2

**Well here it is Chapter 2 and if you haven't already guessed it Yes in this, Malefor is Spyro's father I will get more into that later as the story progresses, these next few chapters will be spent in the Valley of Avalar , The next few chapters will be on the days spent in the valley before they make the journey back to Warfang. (Oh, dear looks like I am rambling again) anyway enjoy.! P.S the Dark aether will be mentioned more when they return to Warfang.**

Origins of the Dark Aether

Chapter 2 – Awakening

"I love you," Cynder pondered on the word she spoke moments ago or maybe it was hours she did not know as she found herself in a strange world filled with white light, Cynder wondered where she was but then another thought came to mind, Am I dead? Before Cynder could think any more on the subject, she found herself being drawn out of the strange world of light as far as the eye could see.

Cynder cracked an eye open, her brilliant emerald eyes shining in the afternoon sun, Cynder had to snap her eye shut again as the brilliant light was blinding. Shortly after she manged to open both of her eyes to take in her surroundings, she was surrounded by bright green fields which seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see, Snow white flowers dotting the landscape shining brilliantly in the sunlight.

Cynder rolled onto her crimson red belly, after a few minutes of resting in that pose Cynder heard a growl, she looked around her surroundings and said quietly "who is there?" She did not receive a reply; the sound came again Cynder started to rise on her paws not knowing where the sound was coming from.

The sound came again which Cynder then realised "Oh wait that is just my stomach" she let out a giggle as she thought that her stomach was a big menacing monster waiting to attack the dragoness in her vulnerable state. Cynder looked around her surroundings hoping to see her purple saviour nearby, but it was just her all alone Cynder thought "where could he be?" she pondered on this question for a few minutes, before her stomach announced it's hunger once more, "Maybe I should get something to eat first then look for him, I hope he is still alive "Cynder thought sadly to herself. She padded over quickly to a nearby river and stood on the edge, still as a cat looking for it's prey, her Scythe blade on the end of her tail poised for attack.

She stood like this for a few minutes observing the water with detail, until she saw a rather large fish swimming lazily down the river, her tail lashed forward with deadly accuracy and pierced the fish and killing it instantly. Pleased with her catch Cynder placed it down and started to eat it hungrily, after a few more fish Cynder was satisfied however her thoughts immediately returned to Spyro.

"I better start looking for him before another day drifts by, I wonder how long I have been unconscious for, perhaps he has awoken before me and left me to go to Warfang, no the Spyro I know would never do that would he? Maybe something bad has happened to him, no I do not believe that." Cynder pushed the negative thoughts to the back of her mind as she stretched her crimson wings out and gracefully flew over the river.

A fair distance away in the undergrowth a Purple dragon woke up, however it was not Spyro. Malefor woke up with a great yawn and thought "what happened, where am I." He then realised he no longer had that evil voice at the back of his mind telling him to commit atrocities. He then thought "wait if I am here then" he gasped "my boy has done it, he has saved the world from destruction!" But a cold shiver went down his spine as he realised "I nearly destroyed the world." Malefor looked down scowling at his paws as if they had offended him, he repeated in his head with a single tear going down his snout "I nearly destroyed Spyro and the world, and I corrupted Cynder when she was only a hatchling."

His memories drifted back far back to the night that the Terror of the skies had been born. "who are you all" a small trembling voice said which belonged to a very young dragoness, it was Cynder. The shadows themselves moved around her taunting her, scaring her, A deep bellowing voice said "you are safe here young one" the voice then proceeded to laugh maniacally as a green gem pierced the dark veil.

"Well as safe as you can be before your very mind gets taken over!" The voice belonged to the late ape king Gaul whose demise was brought about by Dark Spyro. The dark master revealed himself to the young dragoness who tried to fly away but realised she was chained to the floor by the iron necklace around her neck. Streams of tears started to pour down Cynders snout, as she was terrified of the dragon that just presented himself to her. He glared at her and said, "You my young dragoness will become one of my Dark generals and you will rain down destruction on dragonkind!" his voice boomed like a clap of thunder, he then proceeded to coat the young dragoness in shadow her muffled screams were drowned out as the last of her will was taken over and she grew to a monstrous size for such a young dragoness and said her voice cold as ice "I will serve you master what is my mission." "Your mission is to capture the four guardians of Warfang and drain their very powers into special crystals that I will provide you with!" Roared the dark master.

With that Malefor returned to the present after reliving his past horrors and looked down shamefully "I did that to you Cynder and I am so sorry for what you had to go through." He rested his head on his paws and closed his eyes wanting to forget what he had just remembered wishing he was stronger than what he was at the time, so he could of broke the Dark Aethers hold on his mind.

Cynder was still searching for Spyro she was hovering above one of the many forests of Avalar when she saw something purple, "Spyro!" she thought hopefully and without second thought she tucked her wings into her sides and dived towards the purple object as fast as a speeding bullet. Just before Cynder collided with the ground she spread her wings to slow down, wincing slightly at the sudden burst of wind which hit her wings straining them a little, when she landed, she took a closer look at the purple object which was indeed Spyro, "Spyro wake up!" Cynder said worrying that he might have died from the sudden expel of all his energy previously. With tears starting to fill her eyes as Spyro was unmoving she rested her head against Spyros chest hearing for a heartbeat, breathing a sigh of relief Cynder did in fact hear a heartbeat although it was beating slowly and was very faint.

Cynder knew that Spyro was hurt as his heartbeat was slower than it should have been, and she also noticed the many cuts that crisscrossed his golden chest and underbelly, she looked around for a patch of red crystals hoping she would find some soon. After some time searching, she noticed a patch in the far distance and immediately ran to it, with one swift slice from her tailblade she sliced the giant crystal in two and gathered them in her wings. Some of the crystals had been absorbed immediately, healing small cuts Cynder had, Cynder started to worry for Spyro's safety, thinking "I need to hurry anything could have happened to him while he was unconscious and vulnerable to attack, maybe something has attacked him, no I need to stop thinking these negative thoughts."

A few minutes had passed and Cynder grew more worried by the minute "where- "her thoughts were cut off as she saw Spyros unconscious body still lying in the same position as before she had left him "thank the ancestors nothing has happened to him." She unfurled her wings next to Spyro and let the red crystals slide off where they were immediately absorbed into Spyro, healing his various cuts across his Royal gold underbelly and Purple scales, Cynder blushed and looked away feeling her own heartbeat steadily increasing "why am I so nervous around him" she wondered.

Cynder went close to his chest and listened for his heartbeat hoping the red gems did their job, what Cynder heard put her nerves at ease as Spyros heartbeat had returned to normal. The sun creeped its way through the trees as Cynder lay down near Spyro not wanting to leave him unprotected while he was vulnerable like this, Sunlight shone down on Spyro making his Purple scales shimmer in the sun and they gave off a brilliant glow. Cynder stared at Spyro in awe as she blushed madly, feeling her heart rate skyrocket and she pondered back to when they were inside the planet, the world was crumbled around the crystal heart of the planet as she remembered the three words, she said in their last moments together "I love you."

Cynder was hoping against hope that Spyro had heard her words so he knew her true feelings about him which she had ever since the dragon temple a few days before the night of the eternal darkness.

However little did Cynder know Spyro had heard the words she said, and he was hoping that she genuinely had those feelings for him and she was not just saying that because of the moment. Spyro was thinking "did she really feel that way about me, was I that important to her that she loved me?" Spyro had similar feelings towards Cynder which he had ever since that starry night where Cynder joined him on the balcony. Spyro had to find out soon whether Cynders feeling where true or not and Spyro was hoping that they were very much true.

As nightfall was fast approaching Cynder was feeling cold and she was wondering whether Spyro would ever reawaken, she wanted to find out whether Spyro had heard her words and whether he shared the same feelings for her. Just as Cynder was about to drift off to sleep she heard a coughing sensation and she immediately looked at Spyro who had his eyes open, she stared into his Amethyst eyes before quickly snapping out of it and turning away.

Spyro said weakly "Cynder are you ok?" as Spyro was worried about her as he saw her shaking. Cynder replied quickly "yes I am fine Spyro are you ok?" Spyro continued saying "yes thanks to you" Cynder smiled at this comment and said, "that is sweet Spyro, I am a bit cold though and as I do not possess the fire element, I cannot start a fire." Spyro slowly starts to rise to his paws shaking slightly, Cynder saw this and asked "what are you doing Spyro? You are weakened where are you going?.Spyro gave her a warm smile lifting her head up and said, "why would I leave the most beautiful dragoness in all of the world after she has stuck up with me and remained at my side no matter what even going to the end of the world with me knowing Fullwell that she might die." Spyro looked away as blood rushed to his face realising what he just said, Cynder just stared at him as a toothy smile came to her face "do you really think that?"

Cynder asked thinking that she was dreaming, Spyro replied nervously "Yeah… I guess…. I did" he thought, expecting Cynder to no believe him, but Cynder simply replied "thank you handsome" Cynder thought that her scales where turning from ebony to red as her face was really hot after realising what she just said. Shortly after a minute had passed Spyro said "I am just going to get some firewood for some light and heat." Spyro walked away, his purple scales turning a distinct shade of red, as he was thinking "maybe she does really like me," Cynder was also thinking "maybe he does like me, maybe he heard what I said."

A few moments later Spyro returned with a slight limp as he was still recovering from what he did back at the core of the planet, his tail carrying a bundle of dry wood suitable for kindling, with a quick breath of fire Spyro lit the wood up which started to generate heat, Both Spyro and Cynder sat their quietly not knowing what to say, they soon started to feel fatigued, before they could stop themselves they let out a great yawn at the same time and blushed. Cynder was thinking "maybe I can make Spyro come closer to me, I want to feel his warmth." But she had her doubts as she was worried that she was getting mixed up in this too quickly as she didn't even know if Spyro loved her or not. Spyro was thinking the same but he too had his doubts not thinking that Cynder had feelings for him.

Cynder closed her and thought that Spyro did not like her and was only sticking with her until they got back to Warfang where she would lose him, Spyro saw this and thought "maybe I should try and comfort her as she looks really sad." Gathering up his courage Spyro silently stood up and walked over to Cynder, Cynder did not notice Spyro coming closer to her as she was just lost in her thoughts.

Spyro silently sat down behind Cynder without her waking and proceeded to slowly put hisleft wing over her body, upon feeling the additional weight Cynders eyes immediately shot open as she turned her head and Spyro immediately withdrew his wing thinking that Cynder was angry with him, however all Cynder did was ask "what was you just doing Spyro?" Spyro gave her an apologetic look and said "I am sorry I looked over to you and noticed that you was looking a little sad and I tried comforting you, I will move away if you want.

Cynders eyes where wide as saucers as she thought "he really does care about me." Just as Spyro was about to stand up and walk away Cynder wrapped her tail around Spyros not wanting him to go and said, "no it's ok Spyro you can lie next to me with your wing over me if you like, it made me feel warm and it was kind of nice." Cynder looked away sheepishly upon realising what she just said, Spyro smiled and said "ok I will stay and protect you from anything that may try and hurt you" Spyro lay back down onto his belly and spread his wing over Cynder bringing her closer to him.

Cynder thought "I want to feel his warmth more, maybe I can make him come closer I just hope he doesn't take offence to it." With that Cynder pretended to shiver and said "Spyro I am cold can you heat me up more." Surprisingly Spyro took no offence and instead brought her back very close to his belly blushing slightly and said, "there is that better?" Cynder looks at him with a smile and says, "much better thank you Spyro, for everything."

With that Cynder closes her eyes and goes into a peaceful sleep, Spyro hasn't gone asleep yet, as he looks at Cynder he thinks "maybe just maybe me and Cynder can be mates one day, I love her so much I just wish I had the courage to tell her as she said to me back in the volcano that she loves me." With that Spyro drifts into a peaceful slumber thinking about a possible future with Cynder.

 **It seems that things are looking up for our two favourite dragons, both have feelings for each other, they just seem to be too nervous to tell each other, especially Spyro. Do not worry we will be going back to Malefor in the next chapter and finding out more about his new 'change', Oh and about the Dark Aether we will get to that in more detail very soon so do not worry about that. Chapter 3 will be getting uploaded after Christmas and I plan on sticking to my schedule for updating this story every Saturday. Do not worry I do not plan on leaving this story unfinished like so many other fanfics as reading the reviews have encouraged me to continue this story. Anyhow until the next chapter, have a Wonderful Christmas.! (P.S thank you for the reviews they have really boosted my confidence in this story)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Welp I am back with another chapter, this is going to be focusing on Malefor, so you may learn a thing or two about him. Enjoy! (There may be additonal characters which will not be mentioned until later in the chapter so keep your eyes open)  
**

Origins of the Dark Aether

Chapter 3 – Reunion

It was early morning when an Adult Purple Dragon awoke, it was Malefor. Malefor thought "where am I" he looked around and all he saw were very tall trees which seemed to attempt to touch the sky. He thought "wherever this is it is so peaceful, I like it, even after the world was nearly destroyed by me, nature recovers as if nothing ever happened." Then he remembered Spyro, his son saving the world at the core of the planet with Cynder at his side. He smiled "Thank you son for saving the world from what I have done, but where could you possibly be, I hope you didn't perish alongside Cynder or I would never forgive myself."

With that Malefor started to rise on all fours wincing slightly as he was still weakened and fatigued from the fight that he had with Spyro and Cynder. Malefor walked slowly through the forest as he did not want to harm nature anymore than he already did, Malefor progressed to an opening and saw an Adult male deer and thought "I really need to get something to eat It feels as if I havn't eaten for days." With that Malefor stopped and Watched the deer's movements for a moment before shooting an Ice spear through the deer's neck, killing it instantly.

As Malefors Ice spear melted blood started to ooze out of the puncture wound in its neck, when Malefor approached it he immediately felt a headache and had a flashback.

 _Start of Flashback_

Malefor was staring at a group of adult dragons and dragonesses with a devilish grin on his face as he thought "These dragons are NOTHING to me I will kill them all of them, and then he dived headfirst into one dragon piercing it and killing it instantly, then he proceeded to kill all the other dragons in that group in swift succession until he encountered an Adult dragoness, She had Cerulean eyes, sleek build (like Cynder) and her scales where a Dark blue while her underbelly and chest were a turquoise colour. She said deeply saddened "Malefor what has it done to you" eyes clearly starting to form tears "You've changed and it's a bad change, please come back to me I cannot stand fighting my own Mate as I Still love you even after everything you have done" The dragonesses name was Nova and she was Malefors mate who had recently laid an egg before Malefors corruption, Spyro's egg.

Malefor trapped in his own thoughts thought "Please don't hurt her I will do anything just please don't hurt her!" The corruption just laughed and said, "Oh I won't hurt her Malefor I'll kill her!" with that Malefors body rammed Nova through some very large trees until she came to a stop, appearing to not be breathing "NO!" Malefor screamed in his head. He was surrounded by dragon blood from the dragon's feeble attempts to attack him, his body was covered in the blood too.

End of Flashback

Malefor collapsed tears filled in his eyes as he thought "Nova I am so sorry I wish I could have been stronger, stronger to break the corruption's hold and now you are gone I am so sorry my Love may we meet again if the Ancestors allow it." And with that he started to eat the deer slowly, guilt filled his heart as he thought that not only was his mate dead. his son might be dead as well, sacrificing himself to save the planet.

Spyro awoke first as the sun glared through the trees into his eyes, as he squinted, he saw a familiar black dragoness wrapped comfortably in his body, her tail wrapped around his and his wing over her entire body so only her head was visible, he smiled and thought "she looks so beautiful while she sleeps." "Maybe I should go and get something for us to eat" and with that he slowly lifted his wing up and gently unwrapped his tail not wanting to disturb the sleeping dragoness, and he went off hunting.

Cynder awoke a minute after Spyro had left as she slowly opened her emerald eyes, she could not see Spyro anywhere and started to look around frantically wondering where Spyro had gone, "where has he gone? did he not enjoy us snuggling?" She was snapped from her thought when she heard a Rumbling noise coming from the bushes all around her, she immediately got into a defensive posture and said, "Whose there, Spyro if it's you it is not funny." Soon as she yelled that the bushes came to life and a sizable group of grublings surrounded her cackling like maniacs, and Cynder yelled "Bring it you overgrown fungus!" and with that she started to attack the group.

Spyro was coming back with a very big Deer when he heard Cynder yelling and then the sound of many cackles and he thought "oh no Cynder!" with that he darted through the trees and when he arrived he saw Cynder in the middle of a grublin swarm fighting bravely, the way her slick curvy body moved made Spyro's heart flutter as his cheeks went a rose red colour but then a shriek cut him from his thoughts, the shriek belonged to Cynder as her flanks were hit by the crude weapons which created cuts along them and drew blood, then more cuts hit her sides and at that moment Spyro shot out of the bushes with his comet dash yelling "STAY AWAY FROM HER.!" As he collided with 20 grublins incinerating them instantly.

Cynder knew she was outnumbered but was preparing to go down fighting she thought "Spyro may not be here right now but I do not need him I am as strong dragoness and I need to show him that too." She was fighting well until a group of 20 grublins attacked her in the back where she wasn't concentrating, drawing blood with their crude swords, Cynder thought "I'm going to die I cannot take all of these grublins their has to be about 50 total, I am sorry Spyro" as a tear left her eye as she thought she was about to die she heard screaming and watched a flame blur incinerate 10 grublins that was attacking her in the back at the same time she instantly thought "Spyro, he really does care about me as he just saved me." With that Spyro said "Are you okay Cynder those cuts look pretty bad and painful." Cynder replied "I am now that you are here, now let's show these things that we will not go down without a fight, Spyro grinned and said, "let's do it."

After the battle all the grublins had been killed either by Spyro's flames, or Cynder's poison, Spyro and Cynder were panting as that battle was tougher than they were expecting. Cynder broke the silence and said, "I thought I was going to die I thought I could take them on but what I failed to realise is that there were far too many for me, where did you go?" Spyro smiled and said, "I went to get dinner for us and I was on my way back when I heard the grublins and I immediately darted towards the sound thinking that I would lose you." Spyro went and got the deer that he hid nearby and roasted it and said "dinner is served" Cynder gave him a quick nuzzle and said "thank you Spyro" and with that they started to eat, Spyro noticed that Cynders cuts where still bleeding and he thought "I need to clean them so that she doesn't get infected but that means I will have to lick them" with that thought he blushed, but inched closer to one of the longer gashes that had blood dripping from it and started to lick it clean.

Cynder felt Spyro licking her injuries and winced slightly as they stung and looked at Spyro and said, "what are you doing Spyro?" Spyro stopped licking and blushed at her saying "I didn't want them getting infected so I started to clean them I can sto-" "No it's fine continue licking them if you want" Cynder interrupted and she turned away back to her food blushing and thought "he is so nice he really cares about my health and even stops when he thinks that I am not liking what he is doing maybe I should tell him my feelings I just hope he returns them back.

Spyro continued to lick the many cuts that Cynder had making sure they did not get infected. After he was finished, he went back to his piece of deer and started to eat it. Cynder thought "well here goes nothing." "Spyro I need to tell you something, something I have been wanting to say to you for a while." She wrapped her tail around Spyro's, while Spyro was thinking "oh man is she going to say it?" "Spyro I … I…. I…. Love you and have loved you since that night on the balcony when you saved me, do you love me?"

Spyro knew this was the moment upon looking into Cynder's emerald eyes and said "I….I….I….I" Cynder thought with tears in her eyes "he doesn't love me," but then she was taken aback when Spyro kissed her leaning into it, Cynder's eyes went wide then closed as she pushed into his kiss with equal force. After about 30 seconds Spyro move back panting to get his breath back and Cynder did the same. Spyro said once he got his breathe back "My damn tongue wouldn't let me say the words so instead I kissed you to show you that I do love you, and have loved you since the same night that you started developing feelings for me I wanted to tell you sooner but then Malefor happened and I also heard what you said in the core but I could not respond due to I was concentrating, I'm just glad I could say it now as I would rather be with you over any other dragonesses as you are so beautiful."

Cynder smiled with tears in her eyes and said, "Thank you for telling me that you heard what I said, I was thinking that you didn't hear me, but you did, and I just wanted to say I would pick no other dragon over you, handsome." With that they settled in front of the fire finishing their meal and then resting before they decided to do anything else.

In a nearby grove Malefor had finished eating his deer and got up "I need to find out what happened to the only family I have left, even if he perished saving the world, I want to see him one last time." Malefor got off his belly which he noticed had gotten brighter since he was no longer corrupted, and the scars had gone or almost vanished. He then saw the fleeing grublins and thought "could that possibly be?" The singed grublin that ran past collapsing from the pain answered his question "Spyro is alive!" With that he bolted off with newfound energy from knowing that his son was alive he thought "my son is alive! I just hope Cynder is too."

Once Malefor got to a line of trees he looked through them and what he saw made him grin wider than he has ever grinned before, he saw Spyro and Cynder kissing each other passionately and heard the conversation they had and he thought "my son has finally admitted his feelings to Cynder I am proud of him, just as he was about to show himself he froze and realised "they are going to think that I am still evil so they are going to end up doing 1 of two things 1 run away terrified that I survived or 2 they will try to attack me, I will have to block them attack as I do not want to hurt them and I just hope I can reason with them through talk as I would like to tell Spyro about his mother and myself before I was corrupted. With a deep breath Malefor stepped through his only barrier stopping him from seeing his son properly letting them see him.

Spyro and Cynder heard another rustling this time a much bigger one and Spyro thought "what now? I hope it isn't Malefor, wait that is impossible he died." What they then saw made their blood run cold. It was Malefor, but he was different but nevertheless it was still him. Instantly Cynder spat acid at Malefor and screamed "you should be dead! You better not hurt Spyro or else I WILL tear your eyes out."

Malefor blocked the acid with a wall of earth and said, "You don't understand I do not want to hurt you anymore, I have changed."

Spyro yells "Likely story, you're just trying to earn our trust, so you can kill us when our guard is down.!" With that he shot A fireball at Malefor, but Malefor just countered it with is own fireball which swallowed Spyro's one whole but then it was going right at him.

Cynder screamed "Spyro move!" but Spyro couldn't he was paralyzed with fear, Malefor saw this and put an earth wall in front of Spyro not wanting to hurt him, the fireball collided with the wall but disintegrated not hurting Spyro or Cynder.

Cynder stared wide eyes at what she just saw Malefor just saved Spyro but why.? But she didn't let that stop her as she siren screamed at Malefor, but he just sidestepped it. "Stop! I really do not want to hurt you!" But Spyro who had just recovered just said "Stop lying! I know you want to kill me or Cynder, but it will not work!" Those words cut through Malefor like blades and his eyes started to fill up "he... he doesn't believe me he thinks I just want to kill them; my own son thinks that I want to kill him when he is my only family left."

Spyro saw this and said to Cynder "finish him off he is worn out" Malefor saw this and just tried one last thing and said "Spyro if you want to kill me fine, but know this, Me and your mother will still love you no matter what happens." Spyro's eyes went wide upon hearing this and as Cynder was charging her poison fury he screamed "STOP CYNDER DON'T DO IT" Cynder immediately stopped charging her fury and said "why, he is going to try to kill you and I will not let him do that," Spyro says I don't care but keep your poison fury charged just in case. With that Spyro walked up to Malefor and said "you better start explaining everything now, from the very start, how do you know my mother? Why did you say you would love me when you have no children? Was it just a desperate attempt to keep your life or are you telling the truth"?

Malefor opened his tear-filled eyes and said, "your mother was called Nova and she was a very beautiful dragoness who had unusual coloured scales for a fire element as they were Dark Blue coupled with a Turquoise chest and underbelly, she loved you very much and couldn't wait to see you hatch."

Spyro's eyes started to fill with tears upon hearing his mother's description and said softly "Thank you but how do you know what she looked like, and why did you say you would love me, I was told my father was killed in a battle." Malefor just smiles and said "I see the guardians did not tell you the whole truth but it was probably for the better but Spyro believe me when I say this but I am your father, what I said back when I was corrupted that we had a lot more in common than just our colour I had a bit of control over my will and tried telling you the truth."

Spyro's eyes went wide with disbelief and he said trembling with tears in his eyes "Y-you a-are m-my f-father?" Malefor replied sadly saying "yes son I am your father." Spyro without even thinking ran up to Malefor and hugged one of his forepaws coating it in salty tears, and Malefor leaned down and nuzzled Spyro like he was a new born hatchling and said, "thank you for believing me son."

He then looked at Cynder who was tearing up as well but trying to hide it behind her Crimson membrane wings and said softly "Cynder I am so sorry for what happened to you when you were a hatchling I was not in control and when I saw what it had planned for you I wanted to stop it but I was not strong enough come here and comfort Spyro, as I know you and him are in love with each other I saw it before I made my disastrous entrance." Without second thought Cynder ran close to Spyro and nuzzled him and said, "at least you know you have parents, but I don't think I do anymore." she said softly.

Malefor looked down and said softly to Cynder "you do have parents and they are both alive unlike my mate Nova, you father although this may come as a shock to you is Terrador while your mother is Oria and she looked very similar to you when you were an adult dragoness and she is the shadow guardian although she has gone into Hiding after what I did when I was corrupted." Upon hearing this Cynder just broke down crying and Spyro put a wing over her and entwined his tail with hers Cynder said "M-My parents are a-alive I thought I killed them when I w-was t-that m-monstrosity and t-they a-are b-both g-guardians."

Then Spyro remembered hearing Malefor say that his mother was dead, and he looked up at Malefor and said, "What happened to my mother how did she die?" Malefor looked down with his eyes shut and said sounding broken "I am so sorry, but I killed her, when the corruption took over me, I begged for it to spare her, but it didn't." Malefor started to sob "I'm a monster I killed her my mate my love is dead because of me." Spyro was about to comfort his father when a new voice said softly "Malefor it was never you fault." The voice sounded female but Malefors head shot up upon hearing it and said his voice cracking "N-Nova?"

An adult dragoness swooped down gracefully and landed next to Malefor. Her Scales were a Dark blue, while her chest and underbelly were Turquoise, her eyes were cerulean, her wings were also dark blue, but her wing membranes were white, she wore Two anklets which were dark grey with 3 small sapphires engraved in them. "Like I said Malley, you did not kill me, and luckily the corruption from the dark aether that you had inside of you didn't think to check for a pulse and just went off sight alone."

With that Malefor rose up and immediately wrapped his wings around Nova as Nova wrapped her wings around Malefor. Spyro and Cynder just stared in disbelief, Spyro teared up and said sounding like a small hatchling "Mother i-is t-that r-really y-you?" Nova stared at Spyro "I-is t-that m-my y-young hatchling." When she laid her eyes on Spyro her eyes which where already filled with tears realising that her mate was no longer corrupted just overflowed down her snout as she said "I have waited so long to see my little hatchling and he is right here," with that she let Malefor go and ran to her son while Spyro ran at her, his eyes shut as he had tears rolling down his face. As he collided with his mothers front left leg she immediately wrapped her wings around him and put her head next to Spyro's and nuzzled him lovingly and said "I love you so much."

 **And it's a wrap, this chapter undergone several changes in my head as I originally was not going to have Spyro's mother turn up here and instead turn up later down the line, also I was not going to mention that Cynder had parents until they got Warfang, but I couldn't resist adding the details here as it is such a nice family reunion. The title also undergone a change as well as it was originally going to just be called Malefors story. I hope I haven't over done the loving points here (I do not think that personally I have.) Also keep in mind I intend for this to be the nicest part of the entire story but who knows I might add more down the line. Also, I plan on starting one of my other stories early so keep your eyes open.! Anyway catch you next time. Also Apologise for sending you guys on an emotional rollercoaster.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well sorry that this is delayed but I would have rather sacrificed the scheduled time, over the quality of this chapter, anyway enjoy.**

Origins of Dark Aether

Chapter 4- Family day out

The Valley of Avalar was very peaceful of a morning, it was a sunny start like always. Nova and Malefor were asleep, their tails entwined and Malefors wing was over Nova's body they were sleeping peacefully after yesterday's reunion with Spyro and Nova's reunion with Malefor. While Spyro was sleeping with Cynder, their tails were also entwined while Spyro had his right orange wing over Cynder's ebony black scales, which left only her head and tail outside of Spyro's protective wing.

When morning arose Spyro was the first awake, followed shortly after by Nova, Spyro removed his wing from Cynder, who shivered at the sudden loss of warmth then she wrapped her tail tightly around Spyro forbidding him from moving till she woke up which Spyro did not mind, however something played on his mind, how did his mother survive? from what Spyro heard from his father she died when he attacked her in his corrupt form.

He turned around to face his mother who was luckily awake as well looking rather cosy with Malefors wing over her, Spyro had to get answers or it would not stop nagging at his mind with that he spoke and said quietly, as he did not want to disturb Cynder who was lightly twitching in her sleep (for some reason) "Mother how did you survive, from what Father said you had died as he did not see you breathing?"

Nova just chuckled and quietly spoke not wanting to wake Malefor "Let me explain it to you once Cynder and your father wakes up I think they will want to hear it."

A few minutes later the others woke with a start, Cynder yawning much like a cat sticking her tongue out when she is yawning, Spyro sniggered and was rewarded with a slap over the head with Cynder's tail

"What is so funny purple boy?" Cynder said

"Just the way you yawn nothing else Cynder, you were sticking your tongue out." Spyro replied.

Cynder blushed with embarrassment, but then it was Malefors turn for embarrassment, as when Nova tried waking him up, he just turned and muttered "Five more minutes Mother" Nova blushed, while Spyro and Cynder had to hide their laughter behind their wings, Spyro struggled hiding his laughter but Cynder did not struggle too much.

"I'm not your mother you idiot" Nova said trying to hide her laughter, she did not fair well hiding it, she struggled hiding it more than Spyro did as she started to hiccup. Once that did not work Cynder got an idea.

"Let's see how much he likes freezing cold winds, Spyro I am going to need your ice breath to help me with this."

Spyro got a devilish grin and said, "sure let's see how he reacts.!"

A few minutes later, Malefor was shivering and with an aching skull while Spyro and Cynder were on their backs laughing.

"Y-you didn't h-have to do that, I bashed the roof of this c-cave b-because I am too tall" Malefor said shivering.

Nova was just sniggering and said, "why did you call me mother then?" Malefors face had turned red with embarrassment.

"Anyway, I had to wake you up because Spyro wondered how I survived from your evil half" Nova said the last lines with a shiver clearly still unnerved at how emotionless it was. Malefor shifted uncomfortably.

"Anyway, I will tell you how I survived. You see Malefor when your evil half hit me into that wall I was barely breathing that is why you did not see me breathing because I was very weak at the time, When I finally woke up I was horrified at what I saw, blood everywhere and then I remembered who caused it."

"I think at the time I had a few broken ribs, and my front right paw was either fractured or broken as I could not put any weight on it, my wings had also been broken so I could not fly, I honestly thought I would not survive with my injuries, but then in a way Malefor your actually saved me as your evil side hurt me"

Spyro looked very confused and said, "how did he help you when he was obviously corrupted at the time?"

Nova just chuckled and said "because Spyro your father gave me these bracelets when we became life mates" she said showing her bracelets to Spyro who looked closely and realised "they are a rare type of spirit gem, I use to use them before a froze myself Sparx and Cynder in a time crystal for three years."

Nova looked at Spyro and smiled saying "you have my brains and your father's brawn it seems, and yes you are right they are a rare type of spirit gem anyway back to the story." Malefor rolled his eyes at the comment but ignored it.

"Anyway I first realised that the bracelets did more than bring out my eyes but they had innate healing properties, after about an hour I could put weight on my paw that I supposed was broken, but I could not face your father again not after what he did and I had to keep telling myself that he would never hurt me out of his own will."

"So, I went into hiding as I did not want to break his heart a second time if he was still in that corrupt body by showing myself again, and that is how I survived."

Over at Warfang however, everything was not peaceful, even though Spyro had prevented the world's destruction, he had not destroyed all the dark master's armies. In the temples war room where the now three guardians (since Ignitus the fire guardian had died at the belt of fire.)

Terrador was the first to speak in a gruff voice, "we know that Spyro has saved the world with Cynder, but we have no idea whether they are alive after pulling that stunt off and Ignitus still hasn't returned so we already have a huge chunk of our remaining strength missing"

Volteer was the next to speak in his electricity charged mouth (as usual)" Now, Now, Now Terrador don't jump to conclusions yet, they may still be alive and just taking a break since they have been fighting all their lives you know."

Cyril then spoke next "I am amazed how you never mange to keep your wagging tongue under control, anyway as much as it pains me to admit it Terrador, Volteer may be right."

"I know that but what I am saying is can we really survive a second siege right now, our walls are damaged and most of our defences are destroyed, I don't think we will be able to survive a second siege, not to mention that most of our race is still in hiding, we do not have enough soldiers to survive a second siege."

Back at the valley Spyro, Nova, Cynder and Malefor were enjoying another peaceful day out completely oblivious to the situation at Warfang and they were enjoying themselves before they return to Warfang which would be the following day.

Malefor was worried since last time everyone remembered he was the all evil dark master, so he will most likely get an extremely hostile response, maybe even attacked like his son and Cynder did when they first met.

Nova saw the worried look on his face and walked over to him with some fish in her Maw which she placed in front of Malefor and said "eat up I don't want you wasting away, and do not worry about Warfang I will defend you no matter what and I am sure our son and Cynder will as well. The Guardians if they are still alive would not think that neither me or Spyro would lie about you."

This made Malefor feel like a weight had been taken of his shoulders and he just smiled at Nova and nuzzled her softly and said, "thank you beautiful you have put my worries at ease" and with that he started to eat the fish, leaving some for Nova as well.

However, under a nearby tree was Spyro and Cynder lying next to each other relaxed, until Cynder broke the silence and said

"I hope when we get to Warfang I get to see my mother as I already have seen Terrador, I wonder what she looks like if she is still at Warfang that is."

Spyro just smiled and said, "I am sure she would look just as beautiful as you do Cyn."

Cynder blushed lightly and said, "thanks for that Spyro" then with that she tapped him with her head and said, "Tag your it!" and with that she took to the skies like a lightning bolt thanks to assistance from her wind element.

"Hey, you are cheating you are using your wind element which I do not have!" Spyro yelled after her before taking to the skies himself.

Cynder just stuck her tongue out at shot off, with Spyro surprisingly in hot pursuit.

Nova and Malefor saw the two young dragons chasing each other in the sky each catching each other, Spyro was keeping up with Cynder by using his electricity to increase how fast his wings flapped.

However, Spyro pushed his wings a little too hard and they ceased to flap as they had been damaged which left him free falling straight towards the ground.

Nova saw this and with a powerful flap of her wings she shot straight on an intercept course with Spyro

Cynder looked behind and looked in horror as she saw Spyro seemingly heading straight towards the ground and screamed "SPYRO!," as she dived down after him tucking her wings to the side to lessen her air resistance, However Nova got to him first and caught him in her front paws

When Cynder tried to open her wings, her wings wouldn't open as she was going too fast and she looked in horror and squeezed her eyes shut waiting for the impending ground, but nothing happened.

When Cynder cracked one of her eyes open she realised that she was hovering just barely above the ground, she turned around and saw that purple paws had grabbed her body and she saw that they belonged to Malefor who was just smiling at her

"Caught you, I saw you couldn't open your wings and I grabbed you stopping your collision with the ground"

Cynder had little tears in her eyes as for once she feared death, scared of not being with Spyro and that accident could have costed her either Spyro's life or her own. When she was placed on the ground she ran off and hid behind some trees sobbing that she nearly costed Spyro his life.

When Spyro was placed on the ground he said "Thanks mother for looking out for me"

Nova just smiled and said "Careful not to push yourself too much you may be a purple dragon, but you still have your limits"

Spyro then looked for Cynder and was worried when he didn't see her, and he said, "where is Cynder?"

Malefor came over and said "once she realised the little accident, she caused she ran off in that direction" pointing to some trees.

"Why? did she blame herself?" Spyro questioned

Malefor just nodded and said "she was worried about your reaction as you pushed yourself too much trying to catch her"

With that Spyro ran in that direction and when he got to where Cynder hid he just saw a shaking ball of ebony scales. Spyro immediately wrapped himself around Cynder putting her close to his chest, which she started to soak with tears.

"I nearly cost you your life by doing that, I nearly cost myself my own life, if Malefor or Nova wasn't their we would have both died" Cynder was sobbing, soaking the ground with her tears.

Spyro just started to nuzzle Cynder and rubbed her back with his wings and he said softly "Stop blaming yourself, that was not your fault I should have known my limits, yet I pushed past them and nearly caused a catastrophe, it was not your fault at all."

After a few minutes Cynder had stopped crying but she had not calmed down as she started to hiccup. Spyro slowly helped Cynder to her paws and got up himself and started walking towards where Nova and Malefor were lying down, with Cynder leaning on him.

When Cynder saw Nova and Malefor she hid slightly behind Spyro expecting them to yell at her, but they did not, instead they just beckoned them closer.

Nova broke the silence first and said "Before you start blaming yourself Cynder it was not your fault and I am not angry and neither is Malefor, you was having a bit of fun and Spyro thought that he had no limits, when he realised very quickly that he did have his limits, and I do not care if I had to save Spyro and you could not make it to him, you may be a very strong dragoness Cynder but you cannot do everything."

"She's right Cynder, when I was your age, I thought that my powers were limitless which I soon realised a little too late that we are not invincible purple dragons, we are still dragons and that is how it remains" Malefor implied.

"Thank you for not being angry at me, and sorry the way I reacted I just thought that both of you and Spyro would hate me for nearly killing him" Cynder said finally calm.

"I would never hate you Cyn" Spyro said "and I was an idiot for pushing myself like I did I nearly tore my wings off" Spyro said which caused everyone to laugh.

"Now that is done with who wants to eat?" Malefor said, everyone's growling stomachs answered his question very quickly and he went off in the woods to hunt.

Spyro and Cynder decided to play tag on foot instead of flying since both Cynder's and Spyro's wings would barely open as they had been strained a little too much. When Malefor returned he had returned with some rabbits and an adult deer and started to cook them with his fire breath, Surprisingly Malefor was a very good cook and he did not burn the meat instead he had managed to make them well done.

After he finished cooking everyone ate the meal, Nova and Malefor shared the deer while Cynder and Spyro had a little bit of the deer but preferred to eat the rabbits instead.

The as the moon was coming up, they decided to sleep outside, after Malefor had smashed his head against the roof of the cave after his rude awakening earlier thanks to Spyro and Cynder's mischief.

Cynder's ebony and Crimson body was hidden from view thanks to Spyro's large orange wing, which left only her head and tail in view, her tail was wrapped around Spyro's. While Malefor was hidden mostly from view by Nova's dark blue and white wing as they took turns sleeping in each other's wings, however her tail was not wrapped around Malefors instead it was right next to his, as her tail was barbed (it is only barbed currently since she is technically still growing.) Preparing for the return to Warfang.

 **Well got the chapter out finally, sorry it took me so long, but I was very busy on Friday as well as Saturday, so I did not get a chance to finish it. The next chapter is their return to Warfang** , **I hope this chapter has answered your question on how Nova survived, also if you're wondering how Nova is still growing even though she is a similar age to Malefor it is because she has a slower growth to Malefor, and her tail will not be barbed forever. Anyway see you next time (P.S next chapter might be a bit delayed since I am back in college on Wednesday I am in my second year so work is going to increase quite a bit which may delay my chapter upload schedule.)**


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